Augmented Seventh Descending

There are a number of planets discovered not by us, but by the species we have recently come into contact with, known on Nemus as the Miser Crabs. One of these is Augmented Seventh Descending, a world lying quite close to its sun and almost completely covered by thick clouds generating massive storms. From the surface, however, the whole world seems blanketed in a sort of blue twilight, changing from lighter to darker as the eighteen-hour day passes by. There are few oceans remaining; most of the water is locked up in ice at the poles, or in the great storms that pass overhead, but the rest of the landscape is dotted with lakes and rivers. It's quite a warm world, but an unpredictable one; the skies are given to change in intensity as the planet wobbles on its axial tilt, far more than Nemus does or even than some of our neighbouring worlds do.

The inhabitants of this world, somewhat strangely, are very much invested in the use of bioluminescence, at least among the remaining species. Miser Crab historionomists have determined that the aeroplankton caught in the storms may have been the first to use both bioluminescence and sight, but it has since passed to the majority of the phyla on the planet. Fungus-like trees, growing long, thin stems that are snapped off in the breeze, give off a pale glow. So do the jewelled hummingbird-like scaled fliers, flitting from "tree" to "tree" and remaining aloft even in the worst storms. Even the crocodilian predators in the undergrowth and fernland, mostly dark-coloured or mottled to blend in with the surroundings, hold a bright, glowing lure from an esca on their heads, to catch their prey with.

There is one more species worth noting.

The Miser Crabs call them the [Major Second Inversion Descending], but we may well call them goblins. This long-legged, spindly creature had its start deeper within the caves, where the bioluminescent fungus-trees could be safely farmed away from the predators on the surface. This is also one of the few places on the planet where fires can be started and left for a considerable amount of time; this has been used to their advantage. From what we know of them they reproduce through something like budding: two parents temporarily fuse both physically, through organ called the phermata (singular pherma), and even mentally (as ganglia in the central systems connect for a time), each sharing genetic material with the other until the phermata on one or the other (or both) are large enough to start growing in the central mouth cavity. The "mind-melding" abilities (which are not necessarily related to reproduction anymore) may grow into something greater as time goes on, but it's difficult to tell. They already have fire, farming, and a fondness for separating the shiny bits of minerals out of the rock with specialized tools, and even a language of smells and chemicals extruded from various glands.

Now if only they could be persuaded to move beyond the mountains…

—Excerpt from "A Treatise on the Known Species of the Crayfish Nebula", by Wrâââo-Vëu-Hòò (Xäuqgáá, 187 PB)